Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has never been one to mince words about the state of American jurisprudence. Yesterday provided a tasty reminder of his wit and his wisdom. Speaking after a lighthearted reenactment of the (in)famous Lochner v. New York case, Scalia offered some remarks on the politicization of the Supreme Court.
"I am questioning the propriety - indeed, the sanity - of having a value-laden decision such as this made for the entire society ... by unelected judges," he said of abortion, capital punishment and other recent judicial pronouncements. Enabled and encouraged by liberals, the Court continues to legislate morality and now, rather than fearing judicial supremacy, Congress accepts it and hopes only to ensure “moderate” usurpation.
Quoth the eminent jurist: "Now the Senate is looking for moderate judges, mainstream judges. What in the world is a moderate interpretation of a constitutional text? Halfway between what it says and what we'd like it to say?"
Indeed. Few people in the media or the Senate are makign this much sense as the Roberts circus approaches. I may have to join Jason in championing Scalia for Chief Justice when Rehnquist retires.
Comments (1)
Actually, I am not in favor of appointing Scalia chief justice. My earlier posts on the matter dealt more with reporting on the speculation and championing the merits of the Court's finest thinker.
I am a huge backer of Janice Rogers Brown for chief justice. The Senate has already confirmed her just this year, so that can't be an extraordinary circumstance, right? That would be an awesome confirmation battle, if Republicans actually decided to play hardball.
Posted by Jason A. | August 31, 2005 8:49 AM
Posted on August 31, 2005 08:49